Green
by Quicksilvermad
Summary: Theme #006 GREEN: Movie-verse, 1st movie. He probably never had grass stains on his knees before that afternoon.


**TITLE: **Green  
**AUTHOR:** Quicksilvermad  
**SUMMARY:** Theme #006 GREEN: Movie-verse. He probably never had grass stains on his knees before that afternoon.  
**RATING:** PG  
**PAIRING: **Tony/Pepper  
**DISCLAIMER:** _Iron Man _etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.  
**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **For the 100 Themes Challenge over on LJ (at the Pepperony100 community)

* * *

Tony, barefooted and only in his undershirt and slacks, leaned back against the cool grass and watched the clouds move silently overhead.

He was playing "hooky."

His staff meeting on Fifth Avenue could just _wait. _It was too nice a day to spoil it by sitting indoors for nine hours and _talk. _So instead, he snuck out to the middle of Central Park where he rolled up his trousers, ditched his shoes, and stripped out of his shirt and tie. Still facing the sky, Tony dug his cell phone out of his pocket and checked the screen.

Two Missed Calls.

_Pepper Potts_

One text.

"_Tony, if you don't answer my next phone call I'm coming after you. I know you're in the Park."_

That came after the first call.

A Frisbee whacked him in the knee.

"_Oh shit!"_

Tony picked up the neon yellow disc and eased to his bare feet. With a grin, he twirled the Frisbee on the end of his finger and whistled at the college kid he heard still swearing. He was dark-skinned, wearing a _Legend of Zelda _T-shirt, and had his dread-locked hair tied back with a rubber band.

"This yours?" he called and waved the Frisbee.

The kid and his friend—another young college sophomore if her shirt were anything to go by (the short girl just behind Tri-force Kid had the number "42" on her shirt)—both walked up to him warily.

Tony threw the Frisbee directly at the Hitchhiker's Guide Fan-girl. "Relax!" he snorted.

Fan-girl juggled her hold on the Frisbee and squinted at him. "Are you homeless?"

He pursed his lips to hold back a laugh, thinking about the five homes he _did _in fact own. "No, I'm skipping a meeting," he said. After a pause, he raised one finger and said, "Which neither of you should _ever _do when you graduate."

"Hey, you look familiar," said Dreadlocks.

Tony shrugged and glanced longingly at the Frisbee. "I'm just—"

"_Anthony Edward Stark!"_

He twisted at the waist, hands in his pockets, and grinned. "Pepper! How'd you find me?"

"Wow," Dreadlocks gaped. "Dude, I had to write a paper about you!"

Tony winced. It felt like he would never be able to just _relax _or have fun (a game of Frisbee sounded perfect—it was so nice out).

Pepper caught up to him and groaned. "Where are your shoes?"

He pointed, "With my jacket. Look, it's a nice day, I'm bored of meetings, and these kids have a Frisbee. Grant me some wiggle room, Pep."

"_You _want to join us?" Fan-girl asked.

"Sure. Two on one—first team that misses twenty catches loses."

"_Tony," _Pepper sighed.

"Don't worry, you can referee!" he grinned at her and managed to add pleading eyes to the expression. Pepper, fighting a grin of her own, gave in and pulled her heels off. They joined Tony's wing-tips over by one of the many flat boulders that littered the park.

"You still have to sit in on the staff meeting eventually," she warned.

Tony waved the thought away. "Whatever. Uh, you!" he pointed at the girl. "Hitchhiker's Guide fan—"

She blushed. "My name's Hannah."

"Hannah. It's you and me versus…" he raised his eyebrows at the boy.

"Fitzroy," said Dreadlocks.

"Right. Hannah and myself versus Fitzroy. Since you've got a height edge on the two of us, Fitzroy."

They all looked to Pepper. She rolled her eyes and gave them a half-hearted starting thumb's up.

Time moved slowly for once. Between rolling around and sliding in the grass to catch some purposefully low throws, Tony managed to find out that these two students were from NYU and in their fourth semester of classes. Fitzroy was a physics major (and the one who kept low-lobbing the Frisbee fifteen feet away from Tony) and Hannah was an English major.

Pepper cringed every time Tony hit the ground but couldn't fight the smile that traveled from her boss's exuberant face and into her warming heart. She hadn't seen Tony have _fun _in the longest time. The laughing, child-like innocence of tossing a Frisbee back and forth was a startling reminder that he missed out on the kind of childhood she had grown up with.

He probably never had grass stains on his knees before that afternoon.

The thought saddened her.

Every _kid _should be allowed to go outside and play. Not build complex machinery or circuit boards.

_Play._

The score was eighteen to seventeen (in Fitzroy's favor) and the time was getting late. Tony's hair was plastered to head with sweat, and as the sun dipped lower against the horizon Pepper could see the strange ethereal glow of his arc reactor coming through his soaked undershirt.

She hated to cut things short. Especially when Tony was laughing so freely and helping his teammate catch the high throws by lifting her at the waist and running with her. Instead, Pepper sprinted across the grass to grab another low throw from Fitzroy that Tony and Hannah were far away from. She flung it back across the invisible dividing line and tripped headlong into Tony.

She heard the wind get knocked out of him and Hannah's surge of laughter. In the commotion, the college kids ended the game and helped the two (supposed) adults to their feet.

Tony grinned and began pulling grass out of Pepper's tangled hair. "What was that about?"

"You were losing, I'm hungry, and we're due back at the airport in…" Pepper checked her watch, "well, fifteen minutes ago."

Tony groaned, dusted off the seat of his trousers, and jogged back to grab their stuff. "Shoes, jacket…" He plucked one of his business cards out of his blazer and handed it to Fitzroy. "Give me a call when you graduate and need a job, Fitz."

The young man looked gob smacked. "Uh, sure… Thanks!"

Tony pulled his button down on and shoved his bare feet into his shoes. "I should be thanking you two for letting me join in on your game."

The kids smiled, bid him farewell, and jogged off toward the subway. At his left, Pepper tapped the glowing arc reactor and smiled. "Sorry to cut your fun short, but you can r_eally_ see this thing when the sun goes down."

Tony caught her hand before it could disappear from his warmth—his thrumming heart pounded beneath her fingertips.

"You've got grass stains all over you," Pepper pointed out.

"It's a new look I'm trying out," Tony joked.

Pepper smothered a wide grin and nudged him in the side. "It's fitting, Mr. Stark."

"I am no longer a grass stain virgin, Miss Potts."

Pepper finally laughed and was joined by Tony's warm chuckle.

* * *

**END**

_AN: Meh. Not too happy with this one. That's why I'm following it up immediately with two more of the 100 Themes prompts. It's tough going in numerical order, but fun as well. _


End file.
